Changes to electrical safety training in 2021

1. Regulatory framework for establishing electrical safety requirements in 2021
2. Revision of the regulatory framework

Achieving the required level of electrical safety at an enterprise is one of the important tasks of organizations whose work is related to industrial consumption or generation of electricity. The main tool for achieving this goal is the proper organization of training for employees of such enterprises. During specialized training, they gain practical skills and knowledge that enable them to safely perform their job duties and guarantee trouble-free operation of the enterprise. And the livelihoods of many other people and organizations often depend on it - from ordinary consumers of electricity to large industrial producers.

Regulatory framework for establishing electrical safety requirements in 2021

The composition of the basic regulatory documents that establish rules in the field of electrical safety will not change in the coming year. Their list still includes the following legal acts:

• Order of the Ministry of Energy dated January 13, 2003 No. 6, establishing the rules for the technical operation of electrical installations of energy consumers. In specialist circles, this document is known by the abbreviation PTEEP;
• Order of the Ministry of Labor dated July 24, 2013 N 328n, establishing labor protection requirements during work related to the operation of electrical installations. The abbreviation POTEEU is sometimes used to refer to this document;
• Federal Law No. 116-FZ of July 21, 1997, which defines the basic principles in the field of achieving the required level of industrial safety of production enterprises;
• Labor Code of the Russian Federation;
• Joint order of the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Labor dated January 13, 2003 No. 1/29, defining the procedure for organizing professional training for enterprise employees;
• other regulatory documents.

The legal documents provided are regularly reviewed and edited. This is done in order to ensure that current state requirements comply with the real situation in the electric power industry, as well as oblige employers to use the most current methods to protect the health of workers when operating industrial equipment. Similar goals are pursued by the legislator when introducing new requirements for organizing personnel training in the field of electrical safety.

Electrical safety training

Electrical safety training is completed by those who are already working in their specialty (i.e., periodically confirm their level of knowledge) or are planning to change jobs and want to maintain their qualifications.

After completing the training, a certificate is issued that has a limited validity period. The frequency of further knowledge testing depends on the category of a particular employee:

1. Electrical personnel directly organizing and carrying out maintenance, adjustment, and repair of existing electrical installations, performing electrical installation work, as well as employees with the authority to issue orders and orders undergo training and knowledge testing once a year;
2. Administrative and technical personnel not belonging to the previous group, specialists in labor protection and inspection of electrical installations - once every 3 years.

There is also an extraordinary knowledge test , it is carried out, for example, when installing new equipment, transferring to a position requiring a higher electrical safety group, at the request of state supervisory authorities, during a break in work in this position for more than 6 months, etc.

You can try to conduct training directly in the company, but this requires that the staff have qualified specialists who have been certified by Rostekhnadzor. In addition, it will be necessary to organize the process of training and testing knowledge, develop training and examination programs, assemble a commission that will take exams, etc., diverting considerable resources, including money, to this.

Does it make sense to spend so much time and effort or is it enough to contact a specialized company and undergo, for example, distance learning?

Find out more about electrical safety training

Revision of the regulatory framework

Despite the fact that nominally the list of basic legal documents that make up the regulatory framework for organizing training in the field of electrical safety has not changed, it cannot be ignored that some adjustments in this matter have nevertheless occurred. Key electrical safety news in 2021 is concentrated in two directions: clarification of existing documents and the adoption of new legal acts. The following has been done in this area:

• In order of the Ministry of Energy No. 6, by order of the Ministry of Energy dated September 13, 2018 N 757, changes were made related to updating the rules for switching in electrical installations. A new order from their PTEEP removed a long series of points that regulated the rules for performing the switches in question. Order No. 757 entered into force on May 24, 2021. As a result, 2021 became the first time period when the analyzed rules will be in full force throughout the entire calendar year;
• Order of the Ministry of Labor No. 328n was amended by order of the Ministry of Labor dated November 15, 2021 N 704n regarding the rules for performing state supervision over compliance with current standards. According to this document, supervision over the implementation of the main volume of occupational safety rules when using electrical installations is carried out by the Department of State Energy Supervision of Rostechnadzor. At the same time, control over the organization’s compliance with the requirements for personnel involved in the operation of electrical installations is carried out by Rostrud. The updated requirements began on January 25, 2019. In 2021, the requirements under consideration will be in full force throughout the year;
• On November 6, 2021, Government Decree No. 1365 of October 25, 2019 came into force, which established a new procedure for passing industrial safety certification for employees of certain categories of enterprises.

Now let’s analyze the changes in electrical safety in 2021, which relate to the procedure for organizing training for employees of manufacturing enterprises. They are related, among other things, to the entry into force of new requirements of the listed regulatory documents.

Electrical safety groups

The concept of electrical safety in an organization is a set of systematic measures aimed at achieving the required level of personnel safety when performing job duties related to the operation of different categories of electrical devices and installations. Moreover, such devices can be of different types: from simple equipment that does not require special skills when handling it, to complex equipment, the operation of which requires complex knowledge and a high level of qualifications.

In this regard, Order No. 6 of the Ministry of Energy introduces the category of electrical safety group. It is also called the admission group. This term usually refers to a set of skills and knowledge that gives a specific employee the right to work with certain categories of equipment. In total, the order we are interested in identifies five main qualification groups. Their main parameters as of 2021 are shown in the table below.

Training order: I qualification group

Group I electrical safety clearance does not require any complex skills: to obtain it, it is enough to be able to safely interact with basic types of equipment. Therefore, a simplified procedure has been established for assigning this group.

Training of enterprise employees for assignment to Group I in 2021 can be carried out by the organization itself. To do this, you need to attract an employee with a clearance group of at least III. The training itself is carried out in the form of instructions. The list of persons who should receive group I is established by a separate order of the head of the company. Moreover, if he believes that some employees do not need to undergo such training, he may not include them in the order. If the manager makes the appropriate decision, the enterprise may not have workers with qualification group I at all.

The completion of training and assignment of a group for those workers mentioned in such an order is recorded in a special journal of the established form. Certificates confirming completion of training are not issued in this situation. After receiving a qualification group, an annual knowledge test is organized for this category of workers. The procedure for its organization is determined by the head of the company, taking into account the specifics of its activities.

Training order: II-V qualification groups

The starting group for working with industrial electrical installations is II. The procedure for assigning it depends on the employee’s level of education. If he has only secondary education, or does not even have it, to be assigned group II he must undergo training of at least 72 hours at an authorized training center and pass an exam at Rostechnadzor. Workers with specialized secondary or higher education in electrical engineering are assigned group II automatically.

To be assigned to a more senior group, employees must accumulate specialized work experience. The requirements for such experience and other criteria important for obtaining the next group are given in the table.

Duration of work in the previous group for assignment to the next one, months

The procedure for organizing training for employees to obtain the necessary skills and knowledge in 2021 is determined by the head of the enterprise. When conducting certification of employees and assigning them the required access group, different options are possible:

• certification by the internal commission of the organization. To form such a commission, the employer must allocate at least five experienced workers with a safety group of at least IV, and all of them must be certified by Rostechnadzor. The chairman of the commission must have Group V. In this situation, the presence of Rostechnadzor inspectors in the commission is not provided;
• certification by the Territorial Certification Commission (TAC) of Rostechnadzor. This option is suitable if the organization’s resources do not allow the formation of an attestation commission.

Upon successful completion of the certification, employees receive a standard certificate. Its form is approved by the appendix to the order of the Ministry of Labor No. 328n.

The condition for the presence of a specific security group for a specific position is introduced by the head of the organization. It can be recorded in a local regulation, an employment contract with an employee, a job description or other document. At the same time, it is important that the manager of work in which different types of electrical installations are used has a safety group no lower than the workers he supervises. For individual workers, additional requirements in the field of electrical safety may be introduced by specialized regulatory documents. For example, such employees include personnel of enterprises in the field of railway transport.

Internship

In 2021, granting permission for an employee to work independently with electrical installations, in addition to undergoing training and certification, also requires organizing an internship at the workplace. This condition is provided for in Chapter 1.4 of Order No. 6. The main purpose of its introduction is the need to inform the employee about the features of the specific conditions in which he will perform his work. During the internship under the guidance of a competent mentor, he receives information in the following areas:

• rules for ensuring occupational safety and health at work and current standards contained in occupational safety instructions;
• a list of skills necessary to achieve effective work results and safe operation of the equipment entrusted to him;
• methods of working with equipment that ensure the required level of work safety.

Categories of personnel in electrical safety

Depending on the level of qualifications and authority in the field of working with electrical installations, all personnel of the organization are divided into three broad categories:

• electrical engineering - personnel with the most complete skills in this field. He is allowed to perform all types of work on electrical installations, including installation, commissioning, repairs and others. At the same time, depending on the set of tasks within this category of personnel, additional subcategories are distinguished, including administrative and technical, operational, maintenance and operational repair. Personnel in this category may have security groups from II to V, but most often workers belonging to it have access group III and higher;
• electrotechnological – personnel who are allowed to operate complex electrical equipment and its routine maintenance. Workers belonging to this category must have a safety group of at least II;
• non-electrical – personnel not belonging to the specified categories.

The division into these categories is due to differences in the procedure for passing the electrical safety knowledge test, which is performed after assignment of an admission group.

Organization of knowledge testing on electrical safety

In 2021, testing the knowledge of workers who, due to their work responsibilities, interact with different types of electrical equipment is regulated by the provisions of Order No. 6 of the Ministry of Energy. According to paragraph 1.4.19 of the regulatory document in question, several types of such tests are distinguished. Primary is carried out for employees upon joining the company to control the knowledge necessary for the safe operation of equipment and performing other operations with it. A similar check is carried out for employees who have had a break from work in their core specialty for more than three years. In accordance with the current procedure, during such a break, their existing electrical safety group is reduced to II: in order to obtain a higher level group, they will have to go through the training and certification procedure again.

A repeated or regular inspection is organized in the following order:

• electrical personnel who perform commissioning, repair, maintenance and other complex operations with industrial electrical installations must undergo it once a year;
• electrical personnel who have the right to issue permits for performing hazardous types of work with electrical equipment, as well as organize and carry out operational negotiations, undergo it once a year;
• administrative and technical personnel not belonging to any of the categories considered are tested once every three years;
• Occupational safety specialists who inspect electrical installations undergo it once every three years.

The countdown for organizing the next inspection begins from the date of completion of the previous one. In some situations, a condition may be established for employees to undergo an extraordinary inspection. For example, this is necessary if new equipment is being installed in an organization, an employee is assigned to another position that requires new skills in the field of electrical safety, etc. The full list of grounds for organizing an extraordinary inspection in 2021 is given in paragraph 1.4.23 of Order No. 6.

Electrical safety groups

Based on the category of personnel and equipment with which they have to work, several qualification groups have been established:

• Group I is not electrical personnel, these are, for example, PC operators. This group includes those who do not seem to perform any complex or dangerous work, but interact with equipment and theoretically could receive an electric shock.

The leader decides who exactly belongs to this group. Such personnel undergo annual training . Only a person with group 3 or higher can act as an instructor. It is first necessary to develop a training program, which includes, incl. training in safe working methods and first aid in case of electric shock.

• Group II is also assigned to non-electrical personnel, but already servicing installations and equipment with electric drives. To obtain the second group, you must have advanced knowledge, and employees with basic general or secondary education must undergo training in educational organizations for at least 72 hours .
• Group III is assigned to electrical technical personnel. It gives the right to independently (single-handedly) carry out maintenance, inspection, connection and disconnection of electrical installations up to 1000 V.

As mentioned above, holders of the third group can instruct those who are assigned the first. They have the right to supervise work in installations, i.e. act as administrative and technical personnel (they may not even perform the work themselves, but only monitor their implementation).

• Group IV - electrical personnel who service electrical installations with voltages above 1000 V. Requires even more intensive training, because This work involves high responsibility and power equipment, such as transformer substations.
• Group V - those responsible for electrical equipment and other engineering and technical personnel in installations with voltages above 1000 V (of course, they can also be responsible for installations of lower voltages).

The higher the group, the greater the amount of knowledge the employee to whom it is assigned must master. It is especially worth highlighting the person responsible for electrical equipment.

Who is assigned 1st EB group

In accordance with the requirements of Order No. 6 of the Ministry of Energy dated January 13, 2003, all employees of the enterprise are divided into 3 parts: electrical, non-electrical and other personnel. The meaning of this division is that people from the first category have special access to the maintenance of electrical networks and electrical equipment, and workers from the second only use this equipment to carry out production activities. Other personnel include people who do not work with electrical appliances.

Electrotechnological personnel can perform the following functions:

• administrative and technical;
• repairs (permanent or urgent only);
• operational.

These are people whose responsibilities include maintaining electrical networks and ensuring the functionality of equipment connected to these networks. Depending on the qualifications and functions performed, they are assigned electrical safety group 2, 3, 4 or 5.